The invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing granular dry material which flows readily, such as for example, a spice.
In one class of dispenser for granular dry material, a container for the granular dry material includes a perforated surface. To dispense the granular dry material, a person at least partly inverts the container and shakes it with the perforated surface facing at least partly downwardly so that the granular dry material slowly is forced through the perforations. After an amount of dry material has been dispensed that is sufficient for the person, that person returns the dispenser to a position with the perforated surface facing upwardly. An example of this type of dispenser is a salt shaker.
In one prior art dispenser of this class, the person dispensing the dry material watches it fall and accumulate outside of the dispenser, and after the person observes that a sufficient amount has been dispensed from watching the material fall and/or accumulate, stops shaking the dispenser and returns it to a position in which the perforated surface faces upwardly. This type of prior art dispenser does not provide any mechanism that permits viewing the amount of dry material that has passed through the perforations until it is falling from the container. Accordingly, some individuals who for health reasons, such as high blood pressure, desire to control and limit their sodium consumption, first pour the salt into one of their hands and then add it to the food so they can view the amount of salt before adding it to the food
Prior art dispensers of this type have several disadvantages, such as for example: (1) the dispensers are not adapted to substantially regulate the dispensing of granulated dry matter; (2) they do not permit the learning of the amount of dry matter that is being dispensed until it is too late because the material is already falling; (3) dispensers that do not have clearly transparent wall portions, or the walls of which become discolored and lose their transparency do not permit easy determination of the type of material in the container; and (4) they do not permit the easy varying of the flow rate of the dry material being dispensed because they cannnot transfer excess material back into the container.